Delirium
by Spinny Roses
Summary: My name's Duo Maxwell, pilot of Gundam 02, Deathsycthe. Also known as Shinigami. And it seems like that's literal.
1. Prologue

Title: Delirium

Author: Spinny Roses

Fandom: Gundam Wing

Rating: R

Warnings: Yaoi (Quatre/Trowa), supernatural, OC you love to hate

Spoilers: Up before they go back into space

Disclaimer: Don't own

Delirium

By Spinny Roses

Prologue

One day, you're blowing shit up and getting to know your fellow pilots (and wondering if "gay as the day is long" is part of the requirements to pilot a Gundam), the next day you're curled up under the bed with a gun, not like it'll help much, not when you realize the enemy could pick up the bed with one hand or fry you with a wave of their hand.

Shit, my biggest problem with being a Gundam pilot before, besides the fact I could die at any moment, was the fact that three out of the five of us liked man meat, and I have my doubts about Chang. Hey, just because a guy has long hair doesn't mean he'll chase guys' asses. Trying to get that through Yuy's head was a fun task, though. Oh yeah, my point.

My point is that almost literally overnight, I found out that the Things That go Bump in the Night are real. And that they're really, really petty.

And that all of them feed off humans.

Fuck, I had the Law told to me over and over. There are only witches, vampires, and weres. Anything else is a myth or doesn't walk in this world. Witches can't kill while feeding, vamps may kill, and weres must kill.

And that none of that explains me.

My name's Duo Maxwell, pilot of Gundam 02, Deathsycthe. Also known as Shinigami.

And it seems like that's literal.


	2. Chapter 1

Title: Delirium

Author: Spinny Roses

Fandom: Gundam Wing

Rating: R

Warnings: Yaoi (Quatre/Trowa), supernatural, OC you love to hate

Spoilers: Up before they go back into space

Disclaimer: Don't own

Delirium

By Spinny Roses

Chapter 1

The day really did start off normal. Quatre was going to leave school soon and I already had an excuse for transferring. And who knows where Trowa and Heero were. After Mr. Spandex self-destructed, Heavyarms ran off with the half-alive boy and we haven't seen the two since. Quatre assures me that he's alive, and I guess that's the best I'm gonna get.

And no, I don't know where Wufei was. Somewhere, alive and probably complaining up a storm.

We were going back to Arabia. Apparently the Magnuacs had a lot of bases there, and they threw less of a temper tantrum if we stayed there between missions. Yeah, the idea of finding sand in weird places really appealed to me, mmhmm.

I stretched in bed, enjoying one of my last days in a real bed. Except now I had to get coffee. And food. Yeah, that would be nice. Really nice.

After the prerequisite scratching and hogging of bathroom to annoy the roommate, I headed down to the cafeteria. It was a special dance: Dodge over-muscular jock here, duck under wildly gesturing girl here, and finally, stop right before I'm run over by a small Japanese girl with a really bad attitude.

No, I don't know what bug rammed itself up her ass or why she had it out for me in particular. I don't even know her name, which is pretty pathetic. But we don't even have classes together. She would come in, buy her broth, glare at me, and leave. Without exception.

Well, one exception. Instead of leaving, she continued to glare at me. When Quatre joined me, it only got worse. She actually turned her head and sniffed. I haven't even seen Relena act this way. This was a spoiled princess, in the worse way. But she actually walked over today, so stiff I wondered how she walked with that stick in her ass.

Quatre tensed up. He tried not to show it, but... weird. Did he know her? We both looked up as she yanked a chair back and plopped herself into the seat. She went through the whole dramatic bit, tossing her braids over her shoulder, playing with her soup, and looking down her nose at us.

I was going to break the fork if this went any further. "Is something wrong, miss?"

"Her name is Rie," Quatre interrupted in a dark tone, giving her a meaningful look. Oh... kay. What the hell is going on between those two? "Miss Rie," he continued, looking pissed off, "I cannot see a reason why you are here, or why you have such hatred for myself and Duo."

She sneered. She actually sneered. I didn't want to hit girls, but damn she was making it hard.

"I have my own reasons," she finally said, her voice low. She would have had a nice speaking voice if she didn't insist on being so fucking snotty. "And you are quite aware of them."

"Wouldn't that be racism?" Quatre spat back, heatedly.

"Not if it's true, leech."

Quatre's eyes flicked over to me... afraid? Okay, this was too confusing. At least they weren't catching the attention of the rest of the cafeteria. "Not in front of him."

"He is a part of this, and of mine," she hissed. Yes, hissed. I was liking her less and less. "And if he doesn't know, he's a liability."

Yeah, I was probably going to beat this out of Quatre when this was all over. Not only how he knew such a bitch, but also what the hell she meant by all this. I stood suddenly, not wanting to hear more cryptic bullshit being tossed around. "Well, it was nice to meet you, Rie," I chirped, making sure to go heavy on the sarcasm. "But I have to get to class."

Rie reached out, grabbing my wrist. While she wasn't particularly strong, her touch _burned._ And now everyone was staring at us. Must have been the yelp I let out at the sizzling sound and smell of burning flesh.

I was not kidding. I had fucking burns thanks to her touch. Quatre moved faster than I thought he would, and pulled me closer to him. Which, of course, meant the bitch was pulled closer and toppled off balance.

It was really funny watching her fall flat on her face. Or it would have been if I wasn't looking down at burn blisters. Fucking hell, that hurt! And, you know, completely impossible.

"I don't care if you insult me or threaten me, but you are not hurting him."

Aww, how sweet. I might have to hurl.

Rie stood, slowly. "I need your help."

"Really? Was that before or after you decided to burn the shit out of me?" I don't really run my thoughts through a filter first. Maybe I should start.

Quatre's jaw jumped, then he grabbed her arm and actually started hauling her out of the cafeteria. And after I scraped my own jaw off the ground, I followed them. The burn could wait.

I knew it, you have to watch out for the quiet ones.

---

"Quatre, man, what's going on?"

He ignored me, still gripping Rie's arm firmly.

"Come on, what is it?"

"Let go of my arm, you damn leech!" Rie snapped at him. "You're going to break it." She tried to yank it out of his grasp and, of course, failed. All the Gundam pilots had to be stronger than they looked, even Quatre. "Look, I don't see why it's bad to tell him."

"Then look at him for once!" he snapped at her.

"You know, this cryptic shit it really pissing me off..."

"Don't you understand? My sister is dead, and she was trained in combat. And we're not the only ones!"

Quatre stopped, looking at her. Then at me, then at her. "I'll explain it to him," he said finally, letting her go.

"What?" I winced. Rie could screech. "What does a leech know about _our_..."

"Hey, miss." I was getting really tired of her. "He's a friend, while I don't even know you. And you're really getting on my nerves. He'll tell me what's going on, and you need to get to class. Okay?"

"Are you sure you're okay with this?" She wasn't even looking at me, but rather through me. "He's not..."

"I'm fine. Go, shoo."

Rie glared at Quatre one last time, then stomped off. "And don't leave anything out!"

Quatre rubbed his forehead, turning back to the dorms. "It's probably better if we talk back at your dorm, Duo. I'm sorry about Rie. Her people often do think they're better than everyone else, but she has taken it to another level."

"Nuh, uh. We talk about it here, Quatre. What's going on?"

"Would you talk about anything where people could hear?" he asked, pointedly.

"Just start talking."

He looked around nervously, then sagged against a wall, looking exhausted. "Duo, you must take what I'm about to say with absolute faith. This is completely true." Quatre looked at me, pleadingly. "There have been a series of murders recently. I discredited them, having nothing to do with OZ, but if what Rie says is true, then we're both in trouble."

"And why is this?" Wrist... owie... I hoped Quatre would speed it up. This fucking hurt.

"Duo, do you trust me?"

I sighed. "Stop with the theatrics, all right?"

"Rie, and her family, are what we call witches."

I blinked. And blinked and blinked. "You mean they study Wicca?" That was the religion that had a sudden revival in the 20th century. Most people called it witchcraft, and many Americans on Earth still studied it. Wicca had something to do with worshiping nature and dancing naked, or at least that's what they thought it meant now. Imagining Rie, stick up her ass and all, dancing naked just about caused me to double over, laughing.

Quatre was having a hard time keeping from laughing himself. "No, and I'd love to see their faces when you say that. No, Duo," he sobered up here, fidgeting, "I mean they aren't human."

Huh?

"Witches... are a completely different race than humans."

My wrist started a rhythmic throb, kinda similar to hard rock, trying to add credibility to this insanity. "Okay..."

Quatre's lips quirked. It was pretty obvious he knew I didn't believe a word of this. "Witches, vampires, and weres exist, Duo. We're rare, but exist."

"We?" Shit, he wasn't about to...

His eyes went wide, and he slapped a hand over his mouth. "I didn't want to say that right away," he admitted. "Look, Duo... just take my word on it. Supernaturals exist, and according to Rie, we're being hunted."

I just looked at him, imagining little cookoo birds circling his head. "Uh huh."

"You don't believe me."

"Not really."

He sighed, looking completely distraught. "I'm sorry, Duo. I don't really want to... but this is the only way."

And Quatre, fucking Quatre Rabebra Winner, punched me. Geez, and I thought Heero was one strong son of a bitch. I was reeling from that when I barely noticed another punch incoming. I tried to dodge that one but ended up taking it in the stomach. Gasping for breath, I noticed _another_ punch. This one, even though I could barely see straight, I managed to dodge.

It seemed like Quatre was slowing down. Everything started to take on a super-sharp, adrenaline feel. Finally, he stumbled, face white. I grabbed one arm, twisting it behind him. As I drove him to his knees, I shouted down at him, "What is your fucking problem? What is your..."

There was applause. Of course, the fight drew the attention of the student body. Still high on adrenaline, I picked out a few conversations.

"Must be martial artists..."

"... never seen anyone move so quickly!"

"I could barely keep up!"

Quatre looked up at him, sadly. "Do you see?" I started when I realized he was whispering, and I could hear him perfectly. I let him go, everything around me starting to become meaningless whispers.

"Mr. Wells! Mr. Warners! In my office!" Of course, every fight calls the attention of the principal. We were going to get detention, more if I couldn't sweet-talk my way out of it. And that meant nothing to me.

Quatre didn't slow down. I sped up.

And my wrist was fine.

What the fuck?


	3. Chapter 2

Title: Delirium

Author: Spinny Roses

Fandom: Gundam Wing

Rating: R

Warnings: Yaoi (Quatre/Trowa), supernatural, OC you love to hate

Spoilers: Up before they go back into space

Disclaimer: Don't own

Delirium

By Spinny Roses

Chapter 2

One week's detention. That was all well and fine for Quatre, who was already packed and ready to rejoin the Magnuacs, but I would have to put up with cleaning the cafeteria and scrubbing the graffiti off the bathroom walls for a few days. Damn it, could we leave at the same time? Avoiding suspicion, my ass.

Quatre sat down on his stripped bed, and I followed suit on his roommate's bed. Technically, we all have roomies. In real life, Quatre hasn't seen his roomie outside of classes since we started here. We think he slept in the bathrooms so he didn't annoy anyone with rum-scented vomit.

"So, are you going to explain to me what the _hell _happened today?"

Quatre looked down at his hands. "That was... the reason why I didn't want Rie to know. Duo, you must have felt it! Some people feel different, right? Not human?"

Eh? "Yeah, but that's usually 'cause they're sadistic bastards that take delight in hurting you."

He shook his head. "No, Duo, we..." Quatre let out an explosive sigh. "Am I a sadistic bastard?"

I blinked, confused. "Hell no, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Haven't you felt that I'm not human?"

I laughed, trying to burn off the uncomfortable budding realization. "Quatre, man, none of the pilots feel human. We're just kids, and look at what we're doing. Could a normal human kid do that?"

"No, not that!" Damn, but Quatre was serious about this. "Do I feel like Heero or Trowa or..."

"... no," I eventually admitted. "But isn't it impossible? Witches and... and that?"

"No, Duo," he said, quietly. "We're real. Look, don't try anything. You could seriously hurt..."

Quatre was cut off by a very loud, very familiar, very unwelcome sound. As if we were pulled by the same strings, we rushed to the window and glanced out. Dying sunlight glinted off incoming Aries and Leos, and rows of soldiers marched past the school.

"Fuck." I blinked, looking over at Quatre as the sound of our combined cussing died. "Dude, I didn't know you knew that word."

He blushed deeply.

---

We managed to send off e-mails to our mad scientists, and wonders of all wonders, received an message from Heero and Trowa. Quatre wouldn't let me read his, which made me chuckle. It was so cute how he thought we didn't know the two of them made with the horizontal bunny dance already.

Shit. If this bullshit was real, then wasn't Quatre involved with a human? What the fuck was Quatre, anyway? And what the hell am I doing, getting sucked into this insanity?

Arg! And the worst part was that if the Ozzies didn't move out soon, we were going to have to serve our entire detention term! There was no way we were going to be able to get to our Gundams with all these soldiers running about.

Quatre finally stashed his duffle bag away and sat back down. "Duo..."

"Am I going to get more supernatural bullshit?"

"It's not bullshit," he insisted heatedly. "Duo, look, you managed to heal your own wrist. You don't know any spells and I doubt you're an untrained healing witch, so the only explanation is that you used me."

"... bwah?"

It was going to be a long night.

The general gist, without interruptions and derisive snorts:

Witches, vamps, and weres exist. Back in the 20th century, there was this craze of calling people that fed off personal energy "psychic vampires." Truth is, those were witches feeding off humans. They all have specialties, which Quatre didn't know much of because, I quote, "I'm not a witch and most of them look down on leeches," and they can't breed with humans.

Oh, and they can't kill a human by feeding. Once they drain the human enough to passing out, they can't eat any more. Weird-ass shit like that.

"We have a Law," Quatre said around a yawn. It _was_ getting pretty late, what, for a non-mission night. "Witches cannot kill, vampires may kill, and weres must kill."

"And which are you?" I shot back. I kept asking him this over the last few hours, and he would dodge the subject worthy of Shinigami.

He fidgeted, realizing he didn't have an out this time. "Trowa and I..."

"Quatre, what does that have to do with anything?"

"Just hear me out! Look... I... it's not really... when vampires feed we pump you with a lot of pheromones and adrenaline, so it feels really good. We can get away with eating iron-rich foods, but barring that, we have to drink blood. Trowa knows this and he's okay with it!"

I just gaped at him. "You're a _vampire_? Little innocent Quatre Raberba Winner, who nearly passed out when Heero self-destructed, drinks blood!" I said all of that aloud, didn't I?

"I'm the same height as you, and a pilot, so who are you calling 'little' and 'innocent'?"

"But you drink blood," I pointed out. Yeah, I was still hung up on that.

He blushed, folding in on himself. "It had been a long month, and iron-rich foods were rare. And he was interested. I don't like blood. It tastes weird."

"... okay, Quatre. The proper procedure is 'puff puff give.' Where's the giving?"

Quatre blinked, not processing that. "Huh?"

"Nothing." Damn, and I was looking forward to whatever he was smoking to create this shit. "And I take it I'm supposed to be a witch?"

"Well..." Quatre frowned, thinking. "That's what you'd be under, I think. Except I've never seen a witch able to drain other supernaturals like that. I mean... you should still have a burned wrist. But you took my energy and you started moving like me... and you healed like me. That shouldn't be possible."

"You're telling me," I grumbled. "Quatre, you sure your scientist didn't hook you up with some really nice drugs?"

"Duo..."

I held up my hands. "Kidding, kidding."

---

"There's probably one good thing about this," Quatre whispered to me as we walked down the streets. We had a mutual food craving, and I wasn't about to ask what kind of craving Quatre had, so we made a few minor adjustments to our appearances and went out. I was pretty sure that other than Heero, who had been captured that one time and, of course, the self-destruction of his Gundam, they didn't know what the other pilots looked like, but we still couldn't take chances.

"And what's that?" I whispered back, trying to ignore the Ozzies coming down the sidewalk at a fast march.

"The person that killed Rie's sister probably won't hit while they're in town, so we're probably safe."

I shrugged. Quatre still hadn't proven his vampire-ness and we couldn't recreate what happened in the fight. And the passing fleet was really bugging me, like a weird feeling going down my spine. "It doesn't matter much, we're not..." I stopped, turning my head. I smelled something... felt something... saw something. I don't know what.

And I met the cold eyes of one Lady Une. Shit. She shouldn't know my face, she shouldn't know who I am... Why was she still staring at me? Finally, she shook her head, and continued marching ahead.

"Quatre?" My voice wasn't shaking, nope.

"Yes?"

"Dorm?"

"Sure."


	4. Chapter 3

Title: Delirium

Author: Spinny Roses

Fandom: Gundam Wing

Rating: R

Warnings: Yaoi (Quatre/Trowa), supernatural, OC you love to hate

Spoilers: Up before they go back into space

Disclaimer: Don't own

Notes: No flaming me over Duo's little speech here. I just write what the characters say.

Delirium

By Spinny Roses

Chapter 3

OZ was still in town. My roommate was in the shower, probably cussing at the person who used up all the hot water. I swear, I don't take that long in the shower. Quatre and I were getting more and more frustrated, especially since we haven't gotten any new missions and there was news that our scientists were slowly being arrested.

Yeah, it looked like life was going down the drain at a sharp clip. Good thing was that Quatre stopped talking about weird shit like witches and vampires. And Rie was missing, which made eating that much easier. Hey, you try eating when you have some stuck-up, insane girl looking down her nose at you. Not even the time Relena enrolled at the same school Heero and I were at was that bad. At least Relena just pitied me and Heero. Rie was outright hostile.

But, if the rumors were true, OZ was going to move out soon. Just refueling, mmhmm.

Another day in the life, right?

---

I hate cold nights. But, unfortunately, Quatre lived in a different dorm than I did. So I had to sneak out of my building and walk down to his. Did I mention I hate cold nights? Because they royally suck.

So does having to cling to a icy second story window. I swear, by the time Quatre finally let me in, my fingers had fucking frostbite. Quatre, being the ever so kind soul he is, let me rant for a full five seconds before trying to suffocate me with a pillow. Hey, I mean that. Heero didn't let me get the first syllable out of my mouth before he put his threat to kill me into practice. Quatre, at least, lets me blow off a little steam before putting my life into danger.

Yeah, we're a fucked-up bunch.

"Anyway," Quatre said, tossing the pillow to one side. "Our Gundams are still safe. There hasn't been any reports of Gundam sightings since... well... and Trowa says they'll meet up with us as soon as we're able to move out," he finished, ears going bright red.

I could feel an eyebrow lifting. "Eager to see your squeeze again?"

"Duo!" He sounded horrified, then looked down at his hands. "It's... not like that. He's food, nothing more."

I went quiet. We were about to get back into the weird shit again and I really couldn't deal with hearing about things that Quatre couldn't prove. Shit, Quatre didn't even have fangs. Sure, he was strong, but we're Gundam pilots. We're _all_ strong.

He sighed, opening the window again. "Bed checks soon. You might as well get back." As I swung my leg over the edge, he added, "Heero says hi."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, I know. He says it several times a day."

"He likes you, Duo."

"And because you're in a homosexual relationship with another pilot, I should be too?" I spat back. "Look, I hate to point this out to you, but long hair does _not_ equal gay. Okay? And anyway, getting involved will just mess this shit up, so he shouldn't even bother." With that, I jumped off the window.

Okay, maybe I _was_ being a bit rude. I was getting tired of Heero, though. He was one pink limo away from becoming a male Relena. And seriously, I was not interested.

There was a wet thud and a growl behind me. Every hair on the back of my neck stood at attention, and I swear I smelled something like... fur. Every part of me screamed not to turn around. I didn't want to see what it was. I had a happy, shiny illusion. Don't. Turn. Around.

I turned.

The first thing I actually noticed was shining eyes. You know how a cat looks when you shine a light in their eyes? Yeah, that. My hand started creeping towards my gun.

It was male. He was splattered with blood, had shining eyes, and was snarling at me. And at his feet...

Rie. He... they... left her face alone. Recognizable. The rest of her, though... It was like a big animal got to her. She was slashed to bits, and even through the blood and guts I could tell there were pieces missing. Big pieces. Which might explain the blood and bits of flesh and muscle around the guy's mouth.

And there was something flashing in front of me. It was my gun, huh. Training rules all.

The damned thing actually dropped to all fours. And... shifted. That's the only way to put it. All the bones under his body shifted and realigned themselves. I watched in horror as his hair grew and attached itself to his body like fur. No, not "like." _As_ fur.

I stood there, over a witch's dead body, gun out as a man shifted into a fucking leopard.

There was no way I was going to be able to rationalize this.

Self-preservation kicked in at the last second, and I dodged his claws. A laugh bubbled up in the back of my throat as several bad movies came back to me. One little scratch or bite and I could be howling at the next full moon. Of course, all those bad movies also said that Quatre would be a pile of dust in the sunlight and _that_ sure as hell isn't true.

I was fighting a wereleopard and my only thoughts were of bad horror movies. Geez.

What was true was he was one fast bastard. I couldn't get a decent lock on him, and I wasn't about to waste bullets on a target I wasn't sure I could hit. If I could slow him down...

It didn't happen again. Not that weird slowdown/speed up thing that happened with Quatre. He was still one freakishly fast bastard and I ended up on my back, gun thrown off... somewhere. I don't know. The leopard was growling over me, claws just barely keeping from ripping me into shreds.

I'm not normally afraid of death. Well, my own death. I revel in bringing death to others, and if a mission goes wrong, then at least I died in the right spot. This, though, was different. I was about to die at the hands of something that shouldn't exist. And I was terrified. An animal with human eyes was about to kill me and I had spent the last week convinced that Quatre was making it all up.

I guess I wasn't going to be able to apologize to him.

Which was when the leopard was thrown off me by a brown blur. I looked around, managing to find my gun sitting in a pool of Rie's blood, and grabbed it. When I swung it back around, the leopard and the newcomer, a large brown wolf, were facing off. The wolf growled and snapped at the bastard. And the leopard, get this, _limped_ off.

I wasn't about to celebrate, though. The wolf had blood on its face and was looking at me like I was a very tasty meal. Slowly, I got up, gun shaking slightly. I wasn't going to let some beast kill me. Nuh-uh.

The wolf backed off. I blinked, watching as cold blue eyes watched my move as it melted into the shadows. And I swear, I had seen those eyes before. I knew who the wolf was. It was on the tip of my...

"Duo..."

I clicked the safety on and shoved it back into the holster in one motion, turning to see Quatre do the same. "Oh... hey..."

"Are you okay?"

"Oh yeah. Just peachy." What was that buzzing sound? "Hey, I want to say sorry. About not believing in all that supernatural crap." Ooh, ground looked a lot closer than it should be. "I'm going to have to crash. Wow, it's all real."

Last thing I knew before I hit the ground was that Quatre let out something that sounded nasty in Arabic. But my last sentence followed me into my dreams.

_Wow, it's all real..._


End file.
